1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to creating digital pictures. More particularly, the present invention relates to creating three-dimensional pictures and/or pictures exhibiting a hand drawn appearance using two-dimensional input.
2. Background Information
Digital picture creation often requires complex software and intensive training Even with these things, the resulting pictures are such that a viewer of the picture can usually tell that the picture was created on a computer, partially because pictures created on a computer often lack the ability to freely modulate properties, for example the thickness and/or brightness of a line, as they are being drawn. The lack of this ability prevents users from capturing imperfections or style options that are possible, and perhaps even desired, with hand drawn pictures. Some computer software, such as Adobe Photoshop, may allow the user to manipulate certain properties of particular aspects of a picture, such as the color of a line or area, but this often requires using multiple drawing and filtering tools to accomplish such an adjustment.
Additionally, if a user wishes to convert a two-dimensional picture into a three-dimensional display, the procedure is often complex and labor-intensive. A typical procedure is for a user to have to generate multiple foreground and background layers, and shift each of them with different displacement, before finally merging them into an integrated three-dimensional image through a rendering software program. Existing software packages such as 3DMAX and MAYA require users to draft three-dimensional models and then apply drawing and editing tools to modify the shape and color or intensity variations of the objects.
Further, with the emergence and growing popularity of three-dimensional monitor technology, the need to easily create three-dimensional pictures is expected to increase.
Thus, a need exists for an easier way to create digital pictures that exhibit a hand drawn appearance, as well as more easily creating three dimensional images from two dimensional pictures.